CVE-2022-23457: Path Traversal in ESAPI

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 2.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2022-04-25 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-22

Description

ESAPI (The OWASP Enterprise Security API) is a free, open source, web application security control library. Prior to version 2.3.0.0, the default implementation of `Validator.getValidDirectoryPath(String, String, File, boolean)` may incorrectly treat the tested input string as a child of the specified parent directory. This potentially could allow control-flow bypass checks to be defeated if an attack can specify the entire string representing the 'input' path. This vulnerability is patched in release 2.3.0.0 of ESAPI. As a workaround, it is possible to write one's own implementation of the Validator interface. However, maintainers do not recommend this.

Affected products

Active IQ Unified Manager for VMware vSphere, Linux, and Microsoft Windows: all versions
NetApp OnCommand Workflow Automation: all versions
Oracle WebLogic Server: 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0, 14.1.1.0.0
OWASP Enterprise Security Api: before 2.3.0.0 — fixed in 2.3.0.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: OWASP Enterprise Security Api 2.3.0.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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